The nation’s two top family ­judges have called for the ban on commercial surrogacy to be lifted in Australia and for the government to crack down on couples who pay for it overseas, including by enforcing criminal sanctions and tightening visa rules to ­prevent babies being brought onshore.

I think it is time to start calling Peter Singer "Professor Death." The Princeton moral philosopher–an oxymoron in his case–is the world’s foremost proponent of infanticide. He usually uses examples of disabled babies, but the reason he believes they can be killed is that they are supposedly not “persons.” Thus, Singer has refused to state that killing a baby because she was ugly would be wrong.

The federal government must never be able to remove the protection for citizens of the Racial Discrimination Act, the Northern Territory's opposition leader says. The Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples heard evidence in Darwin on Wednesday on the importance of recognising the first peoples in the constitution, and on the removal of sections which allow the passing of laws that discriminate against people based on their race.

Should the government be able to coerce a family farm into hosting a same-sex wedding? In a free society, the answer is no. Family farms should be free to operate in accordance with the beliefs and values of their owners. Government shouldn’t be able to fine citizens for acting in the market according to their own—rather than the government’s—values, unless there is a compelling government interest being pursued in the least restrictive way possible.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says Clive Palmer should ''reflect'' on his actions in the wake of his comments about the Chinese being ''mongrels'' who ''shoot their own people'', warning that even though China is Australia's biggest trading partner, we ''still have to compete with other countries''.

The countdown has begun to the Victorian state election, with 100 days until polling day. A string of recent opinion polls have Labor in an election-winning position and Premier Denis Napthine concedes it will be a close-fought battle.

The mental health crisis inside the detention centre on Christmas Island is now taking its toll on those who guard the asylum seekers, with one female employee attempting to take her life and a male considered at serious risk of self-harm.